English – ページ 113 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

103.Namioka Castle Part3

The ruins were featured as those for the Southern Court.

Features

House in Aomori-shi Middle Ages

On the way of the ruins from Namioka Station, you can also visit the House in the Aomori-shi Middle Ages to learn more about the castle. It is a historical museum which exhibits the findings about the castle from the excavation and the study. For example, you can see the restored high-class reception hall called Kokonoma in the Main Hall for the lord, the miniature model of the North Enclosure, and the unearthed traded items such as
Luzon Pots.

The restored interior of the high-class reception hall, exhibited by the House in the Aomori-shi Middle Ages

An unearthed Luzon Pot, exhibited by the House in the Aomori-shi Middle Ages

Later History

After Namioka Castle was abandoned, the ruins were used as farms in the Edo Period. In the Meiji Period, the Kitabatake Clan was featured because the clan devotedly served the Southern Court which the government decided as orthodox. The study for the castle was accordingly started. The monument to honor the Kitabatake Clan was built and cherry trees were also planted since then . The castle ruins were designated as a National Historic Site in 1940, which was the first case for Aomori Pref. The excavation of the castle was launched in 1977. Finally, the ruins were open to the public as a historical park in 1998.

The monument to honor the Kitabatake Clan, which was built in the Meiji Era at the Inner Enclosure

The ruins of Namioka Castle covered with cherry blossoms, exhibited by the House in the Aomori-shi Middle Ages

My Impression

Visiting the ruins of Namioka Castle, I have learned that the castle was rather a symbol of peace than the fortress for battle even when many battles happened in the 15th and 16th Centuries called the Sengoku Period. I think that the ruins of this castle are very important site which shows that fact. In addition, the best season for visiting there is definitely in the spring, as the cherry blossoms around the ruins bloom. On the other hand, you should probably try to avoid visiting there in the winter, as the park is basically closed and you sometimes have to walk in the snow to see the ruins, like what happened to me when I visited the castle in winter.

The Information Center is also closed in the winter

How to get There

If you want to visit there by car:
It is about 10 minutes away from Namioka IC on the Tohoku Expressway.
There is a parking lot beside the Information Center in the eastern part of the ruins.
By train, it is over 30 minutes away from Namioka Station on foot.
I recommend using a taxi from the station to avoid getting lost. You can go directly to the Inner Enclosure though the western entrance of the ruins by the taxi.
To get to Namioka Station from Tokyo: Take the Tohoku Shinkansen super express and transfer at Shin-Aomori Station to the Ohu Line.

That’s all. Thank you.
Back to “Namioka Castle Part1”
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103.Namioka Castle Part2

You can imagine how prosperous it was.

Features

Remaining Group of Enclosures

Now, the ruins of Namioka Castle has been developed as a historical park. Although you can’t see any buildings, the eight enclosure still remained. The park is very large and now sandwiched by the Prefectural Road 27 in the north and Namioka River in the south. If you stand alongside the river, you can also see that these enclosures are higher than the river. You can imagine how prosperous they were when their buildings were still there.

The aerial photo around the castle

Overlooking around Namioka River from the Inner Enclosure

Inner Enclosure which was center of castle

So far, two of the enclosures, the Inner Enclosure and the North Enclosure, were mainly excavated. The Inner Enclosure is at the center of the ruins and beside the river. The Inner Enclosure looks like the highest point in the castle ruins. It was found that it had the Main Hall for the lord of the castle. The inside of the enclosure is empty now, but a lot of cherry trees are planted at the outer edge. You can see the doubled dry moats partly with the restored wooden bridges. The moats were originally filled with water.

The cherry trees which are planted at the outer edge

The doubled moat which is divided by the middle earthen walls

North Enclosure had residential lots for warriors

The North Enclosure is the largest enclosure and was found that it had been divided into several residential lots for the warriors. Each lot had the houses for the warriors, the workshop for the craftsmen, the well, the stable and so on. Through the excavation, they discovered that the enclosure had a defensive gate and had a zigzag road. You can now see the wooden fences that show how the residential lots were divided.

The wooden fences which divide the residential lots

The miniature model of a typical residential lot, exhibited by the House in the Aomori-shi Middle Ages

To be continued in “Namioka Castle Part3”
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103.Namioka Castle Part1

The Castle of ” Namioka Palace”

Location and History

Kitabatake Clan, Authority in Tohoku Region built Castle

Namioka Castle was located in what is now Aomori City in the middle of Aomori Prefecture. It is said that the Kitabatake Clan built the castle in the late 15th Century. The Kitabatake Clan was originally a noble family which supported the Southern Court in the 14th Century during the Period of the Northern and Southern Courts. The Southern Court sent Akiie Kitabatake to Tohoku Region to govern the region against the Northern Court. Akiie eventually returned to central Japan, while his relatives remained in Tohoku Region under the Nanbu Clan which also supported the Southern Court.

The illustration of Akiie Kitabatake, owned by Ryozan Shrine (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

In the first 15th Century during the Muromachi Period governed by the Ashikaga Shogunate, the Nanbu Clan and the Ando Clan often battled over the northern Tohoku Region around what is now Aomori Pref. However, they finally compromised each other and gave evidence for the peace in the late 15th Century. It is thought that The Kitabatake Clan was focused on and set up as a mediator at that time. The area around Namioka Castle was at the middle point between the territories of the Nanbu Clan in the east and the Ando Clan in the west.

The location of the castle

It was also a good place for transportation, so the castle prospered with trade. The authority of the Kitabatake Clan reached a peak in the first 16th Century, as the Imperial Court gave the clan a high court rank as a noble. The other clans in Tohoku Region respected the Kitabatake Clan and called the lord family of the clan “Namioka Palace”.

The imaginary drawing of Namioka Castle, exhibited by the House in the Aomori-shi Middle Ages

Group of Enclosures with certain features

Namioka Castle was on a hilly area alongside Namioka River, so its location was relatively defensive. The castle consisted of a group of enclosures called “Date” like the Nanbu Clan’s home base, Ne Castle. There were eight enclosures such as Uchi-date or the Inner Enclosure and Kita-date or the North Enclosure. The Inner Enclosure was probably the oldest one which was used as the Main Hall for the lord of the castle. The hall had a high-class reception hall called Kokonoma where the meeting between the lord and visitors would be held. The North Enclosure was the largest one in the castle where the warriors and craftsmen under the lord lived. The doubled or tripled water moats divided these enclosures. These moats have the middle earthen walls making the moat doubled which were used for defense in emergency and as a route in general.

The eight enclosures of Namioka Castle (from the signboard at the site)

The miniature model of the North Enclosure, exhibited by the House in the Aomori-shi Middle Ages

Castle was defeated by Tamenobu Oura

In 1562, an internal trouble among the Kitabatake Clan called the Kawahara Palace Rebellion happened. A relative family of the lord, called Kawahara Palace killed the lord, Tomokazu Kitabatake. Kawahara Palace was also defeated, as a result, the power of the clan declined. Tamenobu Oura, a relative of the Nanbu Clan aimed to be independent from the Nanbu Clan. Taking advantage of the rebellion, he defeated the Kitabatake Clan and captured Namioka Castle in 1578. He sent a local governor to Namioka Castle for a while, but the castle was abandoned when he built Hirosaki Castle in the first 17th Century.

The portrait of Tamenobu Oura, later Tamenobu Tsugaru, owned by Hirosaki Castle Tower (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The imaginary drawing of the fall of Namioka Castle, exhibited by the House in the Aomori-shi Middle Ages

To be continued in “Namioka Castle Part2”